Rick Lee JamesHealthcare Chaplain, Bon Secours Mercy Health · Husband, Dad, Hospital Chaplain, Recording Artist, Podcast Host, Loyola University IPS Graduate, Alpha Sigma Nu Member, and Recording Academy (GRAMMY®) member - Contributing musician on a Grammy-nomin

☘️ A St. Patrick’s Day Sale — Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations

17 Mar 2026 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

2:37

In this YouTube announcement, Rick Lee James marks the 10‑year anniversary of his album Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations. He explains that the album emerged from prayer books, hymnals, scriptures, and personal moments of quiet devotion, aiming to blend ancient faith with modern worship. The opening track, “Christ Christ is Lord, Christ before me,” draws directly from St. Patrick’s Breastplate, a lorica prayer that envisions Christ surrounding the believer. To celebrate both the anniversary and St. Patrick’s Day, James offers the album on CD and as a digital download for $5 each for a limited week, available through his Bandcamp page. He lists several key songs—“Christ is Lord, Christ Before Me,” “My Savior’s Love,” “More Than the Watchman,” “Psalm 130,” “Advent Hymn,” “Watching, Waiting, Longing,” “The Invitation,” among others—emphasizing that they function as hymns, prayers, and invitations for listeners in church, home, or personal quiet time. He thanks existing fans, encourages new listeners or gift‑givers to take advantage of the sale, and wishes everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Chapters

Hello friends, Rick Lee James here. 10 years ago today, I released an album called Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations. It's an album that came out of prayer books, hymnals, scriptures, and quiet moments with God when I was writing songs. I wanted to write songs that felt like ancient faith meeting modern worship. Songs that people could sing in church and in their homes or in the quiet places of their lives. The album opens with a song called Christ Christ is Lord, Christ before me, which is based on the ancient prayer known as the— as St. Patrick's Breastplate. And one of the most beautiful lines from that prayer says, Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me. The prayer is sometimes called a lorica prayer, meaning a breastplate, a prayer asking God to surround and protect us like armor in the spiritual battles of life. And when I wrote the opening track of the album, I wanted to capture that sense that Christ surrounds us on every side—before us, behind us, within us—and guiding every step we take. And since St. Patrick's Day is also the anniversary of Hymns, Prayers Invitations album release date, I thought it would be a good time to celebrate. So for a short time, St. Patrick's Day, uh, and this whole week actually, I'm offering Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations on CD and digital for only $5. That's right, you can order the CD for $5. For those of you that don't know what a CD is, it's one of those little shiny discs that you put into a CD player. But the digital is also available, only $5, and you can get it at rickleejames.bandcamp.com. If you already have the album, thank you, truly it means more to me than you know. But if you never picked it up, or maybe you'd like to give one to a friend as a gift, this is a great time to grab a copy. The album includes songs that were really good to me. Songs like Christ is Lord, Christ Before Me, which I've already told you about, My Savior's Love, More Than the Watchman, Psalm 130, Advent Hymn, Watching, Waiting, Longing, The Invitation, and more. So my prayer is that these songs would continue to be what their title promises— hymns, prayers, and invitations. Songs that help us remember that Christ is before us and behind us and with us wherever we go. So happy St. Patrick's Day to you, and I hope you enjoy the album Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations.